It can be appreciated that alternative fuel systems have been in use for years, but certain problems have prevented mass adoption of such systems. Typically, alternative fuel system are comprised of combustion-based engines requiring petroleum-based fuel, large pressurized gas tanks or liquid gas tanks requiring certain, specific, expensive, bulky and dangerous types of transportation and distribution infrastructure.
The main problems with conventional alternative fuel systems are that they have poor energy supply duration. They are massively inefficient, particularly so with gasoline. Their older technology is now moving at such a slow pace of development that it promises to reduce its already dramatic negatives for decades to come. They require high temperatures. They require friction mechanisms in the primary engine. Some conventional alternative fuel systems use hydrogen as a fuel, but liquid or compressed hydrogen has very unsafe handling characteristics. Conventional alternative fuel systems are hard to secure. They require large 3000+ PSI (pounds per square inch) gas cylinder trucks to move through cities or across domestic interstate routes. They use caustics or liquid electrolytes. They are usable as bombs by terrorists. In the conventional alternative fuel systems which use Methanol, while less polluting to reform into hydrogen than gasoline, Methanol is very toxic. Conventional alternative fuel systems produce carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide byproducts. They are not as reliable as a battery and don't have superior specific energy, energy density, and life cycle factors. They produce harmful emissions and noise. They cause potentially planet-lethal global warming. They do not provide instantaneous startup. They cause fuel system congestion. Another problem with conventional alternative fuel systems is that current products do not exhibit portability over all systems and networks. Current products do not have enough end-user purchase location functionality, including delivery by conventional delivery services, such as Federal Express, United Parcel Service (UPS), and/or mail-order. Current products have extensive repair and maintenance needs. Current products are not simple and easy-to-use. Current products are hard to make standards compliant and interoperable. Current products produce reliance on foreign governments. Another problem with conventional alternative fuel systems are that they do not have attractive scaling economics. The current products do not expand in a more economical way than conventional batteries. Current products do not have superior distribution network efficiency and optimized raw materials utilization. Current products do not have a modular design that can be configured to suit any fuel distribution challenge. Conventional gasoline reformers are costly, bulky, energy consuming, and complex.
While these conventional systems, devices, and technologies devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not suitable for compacting a large tank of hydrogen into a small unit of usable hydrogen fuel and managing, transporting, distributing and processing these materials. Recent political and global events have produced a sharply escalating demand for hydrogen supplies in extensive volumes.
Hydrogen is an abundant, clean, renewable fuel that has the potential to solve many of the world's energy and economic needs and energy-related problems. Although hydrogen is used in various applications, it has never become a major fuel source because of distribution issues associated with it. After years of development, hydrogen energy is now commercially viable in conventional fuel cell technology. However, safe and reliable, hydrogen storage and delivery is a main impediment to hydrogen becoming the world's primary fuel source.
Hydrogen is a very low-density material. Relatively small amounts require a voluminous transportation system. In the prior art, there has been no adequate solution for transporting, storing and distributing large volumes of hydrogen. Current methods generally require the storage of hydrogen in bulky and potentially explosive tanks, the freezing of deadly liquids or the consumption of polluting hydrocarbon fuels. These highly pressurized and/or volatile devices are unsafe for many applications, such as in motorized vehicles.
Hydrogen, under ordinary conditions, is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic gas comprised of diatomic molecules. There are many industrial uses of hydrogen including manufacturing ammonia and methanol, desulfurization of petroleum products, hydrogenation of fat and oils, production of electricity, and reduction of metallic oxide ores. Hydrogen, a flammable gas that diffuses rapidly in air, has a flammable range of approximately 4 percent to 94 percent by volume (vol. %), in air, at atmospheric pressure. Spark temperatures as low as 500 degrees C. will initiate explosion of a hydrogen-air mixture. Consequently, the production and use of hydrogen is tightly controlled and regulated.
Laboratory scale, less than about 1 scfh hydrogen, systems exist which are comparatively simple and compact hydrogen fuel decompressing systems. In the commercial environment, however, strict regulations governing the production of hydrogen, in amounts exceeding about 100 scfh, for example, have increased the complexity, expense, and space requirement for these systems.
Hydrogen electrochemical systems of the prior art, including water electrolyzer systems for example, are commercially available in open metal frame structures. Systems of moderate and large capacity (greater than about 100 scfh of hydrogen) are typically integrated with separate power, control, ventilation, and heat exchange equipment when installed in a building or facility as a hydrogen fuel decompressing system. Due to the risk of an explosion of any uncontained hydrogen gas, the National Electric Code (Article 501), requires the use of explosion-proof methods when employing electrical equipment in hazardous environments. These methods include the use of explosion-proof housings, components, and certain energy limiting, “intrinsically safe”, zener barrier devices, and often require housing of the fuel decompressor and associated equipment in special ventilated buildings or weatherized structures.
The hydrogen fuel decompressor systems of the prior art, which require explosion proof components and/or specialized housing, suffer from the fact that these components are more costly to procure and install, and typically require significantly higher cost and effort to deploy than their non-explosion proof commercial counterparts.
Current Hydrogen supply can be described under three conventional models.                1. Traditional Model. Produce hydrogen, store hydrogen, transport hydrogen, use hydrogen                    a. This model is expensive and dangerous. Unit costs for hydrogen increase as the hydrogen moves through the system towards use. It is also dangerous with pressurized hydrogen moving from refinery to point of use.                        2. Hydrogen produced at point of use. Deliver fossil fuels to near usage site, produce hydrogen, use hydrogen at usage site.                    a. This model uses energy intensive processes to produce hydrogen from fossil fuels. This is inefficient and creates pollution.                        3. Hydrogen forced onto a hydride. Produce hydrogen, attach hydrogen to metals (producing hydrides), desorb hydrogen at usage                    a. Again, hydrogen must be produced in order to adsorb it to a metal to produce the hydride. This is inefficient and currently dangerous.                        
What is needed in the art is a compact, reduced cost, reduced-size, self-contained, cassette-based hydrogen compression and decompression system configuration which meets the applicable codes and regulations, and can be utilized in hydrogen fuel decompressing systems and various fuel cell systems.
Thus, a readily portable unit of hydrogen fuel and a corresponding distribution and recovery method and system is needed.